Carey Bell
b. Carey Bell Harrington, 14 November 1936, Macon, Mississippi, USA. Bell began to play harmonica after being inspired by the records of Muddy Waters, Little Walter, and Sonny Boy ‘Rice Miller’ Williams. Carey played with a white C&W band and with his ‘stepfather’, Lovie Lee. He moved to Chicago with Lee in the mid-50s, and besides picking up harmonica tips from Little Walter and Walter Horton he also learned guitar from David Honeyboy Edwards, although his main instrument throughout the '60s was bass guitar. He was recorded on Maxwell Street with Robert Nighthawk in 1964, and appeared on a Earl Hooker album in 1968. He quickly recorded his debut album for Delmark, and has appeared on record regularly since, both as leader and accompanist. He has lengthy spells with Muddy Waters and Willie Dixon, and in 1988 he recorded what is claimed to be the world's first ever CD-only issue of a blues album. Besides being rated as one of the leading blues harmonica players, Bell is also a very underrated singer, and he has encouraged many of his children to become blues musicians, with the best-known being Lurrie Bell.